Jenny Colgan: Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop

Rosie Hopkins is looking forward to Christmas in the little Derbyshire village of Lipton, buried under a thick blanket of snow. Her sweetshop is festooned with striped candy canes, large tempting piles of Turkish Delight, crinkling selection boxes and happy, sticky children. She's going to be spending it with her boyfriend, Stephen, and her family, flying in from Australia. She can't wait. But when a tragedy strikes at the heart of their little community, all of Rosie's plans for the future seem to be blown apart. Can she build a life in Lipton? And is what's best for the sweetshop also what's best for Rosie?

This was the logical follow-up book after all the other Jenny Colgan stories. In the end, I really did enjoy it and was very moved at times. But I also found this book more difficult to get into and at some point even asked myself if I should persist at all or not.

Jenny Colgan: Christmas at the Cupcake Café

Issy Randall, proud owner of the Cupcake Cafe, is in love and couldn't be happier. Her new business is thriving and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl and Caroline aren't quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and merriment. But when her boyfriend Austin is scouted for a possible move to New York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And when the Christmas rush at the cafe - with its increased demand for her delectable creations - begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she holds most dear. This December, Issy will have to rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature and cinnamon, to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another . . .

I meant to read this story before Christmas, but I didn't get round to it. However, it was quite nice to read on about Issy and Austin, although the toing and froing between New York and London was perhaps a little too unrealistic.

Beate Maxian: Der Tod hinter dem Stephansdom

Die junge Journalistin Sarah Pauli hat es geschafft: Ihre Kolumne über Aberglauben beim „Wiener Boten“ hat eine treue Leserschaft. Dass den Leuten manchmal die Fantasie durchgeht, ist für Sarah nichts Neues, daher nimmt sie es auch nicht besonders ernst, als eine aufgebrachte Anruferin behauptet, die todbringende „schwarze Frau“ ginge im Blutgassenviertel hinter dem Stephansdom um. Doch schon am nächsten Tag sorgt der Tod eines angesehenen Unternehmers für Schlagzeilen – und gefunden wurde die Leiche in einer Wohnung in der Blutgasse …

Dieses Mal habe ich nicht so viel Wien erwartet, also konnte ich dahin gehend auch nicht enttäuscht werden. Eine interessante Geschichte mit etwas Aberglauben.

Beate Maxian: Die Tote vom Naschmarkt

Von ihren Freunden wird die Journalistin Sarah Pauli gerne wegen ihres Aberglaubens gehänselt. Doch dann gehen in der Redaktionspost drei abgetrennte Finger ein, die zur Schwurhand einer Frauenleiche gehören, die am Wiener Naschmarkt gefunden wurde. Die Tote war Entlastungszeugin in einem Vergewaltigungsprozess, den der prominente Anwalt Harald Koban gewonnen hat. In der Nacht nach dem Prozess überfährt Koban eine Katze – tags darauf erhält Sarah wieder Post: das Bild einer schwarzen Katze und eine unheilverkündende Nachricht ...

Interessanter Krimi rund um Wien. Ich war etwas enttäuscht, dass Wien und der Wiener Schmäh zu kurz kommen, aber der Krimi und die Geschichten rund um die Anwälte, waren trotzdem lesenswert.

Jenny Colgan: Meet me at the Cupcake Café

Come and meet Issy Randall, proud owner of The Cupcake Café. Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that - Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe's bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. When she's made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment. Armed with recipes from Grampa, and with her best friends and local bank manager fighting her corner, The Cupcake Café opens its doors. But Issy has absolutely no idea what she's let herself in for. It will take all her courage - and confectionery - to avert disaster . . .

A sweet and easy read. Again quite predictable, but the quirky characters were fun to be with.

Gary Barlow: My take

Take That was the original and the best British boy band ever. Their records sold millions, and they sold out arenas in less time than it took to play one of their singles. Gary Barlow was the band's secret weapon: their gifted, down-to-earth front man who not only wrote most of their greatest hits - "Back for Good", "Never Forget", and "A Million Love Songs" - but sang them too. But the band decided to quit at the height of their fame. What followed for Gary is an inspiring journey of highs and lows: from the promising start of his solo career to his crisis in confidence. The public who had once worshipped him almost seemed to forget he existed. Much has been said about Gary but he himself has remained silent until now. For the first time, Gary tells his full story from his childhood in Cheshire to life after Take That: the early start at thirteen working in a social club; a career as a teenager working the northern clubs; and the life-changing moment when he met Nigel Martin-Smith, a Manchester modeling agent who wanted to put together a boy-band. Gary will reveal what life on the road with Take That was really like and the truth behind the rumours of their petty feuding. He will also finally settle the speculation around his painfully public fall-out with Robbie. Throughout his experiences Gary has remained as determined and as positive as he was when he was given his first keyboard at eleven. It is this determination and spirit that has helped him bounce back. He has established himself as a successful songwriter writing for the likes of Blue, Delta Goodrem, and Charlotte Church. And now he's made one of pop's great comebacks with the Take That reunion tour, ten years after the band split up. Gary Barlow and Take That are back centre stage once again - where they belong.

An interesting read about Take That, but also about Gary Barlow's personal life including his experience in the London bombings. A fascinating read! Life is always writing the best stories...

Jenny Colgan: Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams

Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.

Having read the Chocolate Shop in Paris, I read this book about the sweet shop in Derbyshire. Again the storyline is quite predictable, but the humour and the characters made up for the predictability.

Chris Kuzneski: Hunters 1 - The Hunters

The Hunters: Financed by a billionaire philanthropist, this elite team - an ex-soldier, an historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert, and a thief - is tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures. The mission: Fearing a German victory in WWI, the Romanian government signed a deal with Russia to guarantee the safety of the country's treasures. In 1916, two trains full of gold and the most precious possessions of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery, and ancient artefacts - were sent to the underground vaults of the Kremlin. But in the turmoil of war, the treasure was scattered - and lost. Almost a century later, the haul is valued at over 3.5 billion dollars. Despite hundreds of attempts to find it, its location has remained a mystery...

Another thrilling read by Chris Kuzneski with humour and great characters as well as some gripping historical fiction. I also liked the link to Petr Ulster at the end of the novel, which in a way I was hoping for, as the story unfolded. Already looking forward to the next "Payne and Jones" and "Hunters" books.

S Daniels & M Piechowski: Living with Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and Emotional Development

Gifted children and adults are often misunderstood. Their excitement is viewed as excessive, their high energy as hyperactivity, their persistence as nagging, their imagination as not paying attention, their passion as being disruptive, their strong emotions and sensitivity as immaturity, their creativity and self-directedness as oppositional.This resource describes these overexcitabilities and strategies for dealing with children and adults who are experiencing them, and provides essential information about Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration. Learn practical methods for nurturing sensitivity, intensity, perfectionism, and much more.

Jenny Colgan: The loveliest chocolate shop in Paris

As dawn breaks over the Pont Neuf, and the cobbled alleyways of Paris come to life, Anna Trent is already awake and at work; mixing and stirring the finest, smoothest, richest chocolate; made entirely by hand, it is sold to the grandes dames of Paris. It's a huge shift from the chocolate factory she worked in at home in the north of England. But when an accident changed everything, Anna was thrown back in touch with her French teacher, Claire, who offered her the chance of a lifetime - to work in Paris with her former sweetheart, Thierry, a master chocolatier. With old wounds about to be uncovered and healed, Anna is set to discover more about real chocolate - and herself - than she ever dreamed.

Having struggled to find a gripping read, I stumbled across this book and started dipping in. Although the storyline is quite predictable, the humour and the characters were fascinating and enthralling. The ending to the story's loving couples are realistic and make for an enjoyable women's fiction novel.

CS Lewis: Narnia 4 - Prince Caspian

The Pevensie siblings are back to help a prince denied his rightful throne as he gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honour between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world. A battle is about to begin in Prince Caspian, the fourth book in C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, which has been enchanting readers of all ages for over sixty years.

Very quick and enjoyable read about the return to Narnia. Somehow I do miss an overarching storyline involving the Pevensie children from previous books, but the story makes for great reading.

Michael Rosen: Fantastic Mr Dahl

Just how did Roald Dahl get into writing? Where did he get his ideas from? What ingredients in his life turned him into the kind of writer he was? Michael Rosen - poet, broadcaster and former Children's Laureate, comes up with some of the answers to these key questions in his lively biography of the world's No.1 storyteller. Full of stories and funny anecdotes from Roald Dahl's school days and family life, Michael Rosen's fascinating observations creates a vivid picture of one of the most famous writers of all time.

A very enjoyable, fascinating and informative biography of one of the world's most influential children's authors. Michael Rosen's approach to interpreting Dahl's letters and actions in a way that they all lead up to him becoming the writer we know is a great way to teach about writing, too. Suddenly, the long sentences with and, but, because are condemned as being unrealistic. A great read for teachers, parents and children alike.

CS Lewis: Narnia 2 - The lion, the witch and the wardrobe

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie— step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.

Again, my son and I were co-reading a book to discuss. This time, the book was chosen by school work. In the past I've wanted to read the series, but never found the time until now. It was quite a fast-paced read, although some of the fantastical and magic was a little confusing. For example, why does Lucy not use her potion, when she could have? Enjoyable read, though.

John & Carole E Barrowman: Hollow Earth

Lots of twins have a special connection - being able to finish each other's sentences; sensing what the other is thinking; perhaps even knowing when the other is in trouble or in pain - but for 12-year-old twins, Matt and Emily Calder, the connection is beyond special. Together, the twins have extraordinary powers - they are able to bring art to life, or enter paintings at will. Their abilities are sought by villains trying to access the terrors of Hollow Earth - a place where all the demons, devils and creatures ever imagined lie trapped for eternity. The twins flee with their mother to the security of an island, off the west coast of Scotland, where their grandfather has certain protective powers of his own. But too much is at stake, and the twins aren't safe there either. The villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within...

I'd started reading this story a few times, but couldn't ever read through it due to time constraints and other books etc. However, I enjoyed this teen fiction, which seems to build on the Inkheart series.

Wendy Green: 50 Things You Can Do Today to Manage Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating, chronic condition characterised by widespread pain, sleep disturbance, fatigue and other symptoms. In this accessible and informative guide, find out 50 things you can do today to manage fibromyalgia, such as exercising to ease pain, benefiting from a balanced diet and helpful supplements, and finding helpful products and organisations. With a foreword by Alice Theadom of the Fibromyalgia Association UK.

Helpful and full of good advice to read and reread....

Nicole Förg: Hüttengaudi - ein Alpenkrimi

Kommissarin Irmi Mangold ärgert sich: Warum hat sie sich nur von ihrer Nachbarin zu dieser albernen Schrothkur in Oberstaufen überreden lassen? Und dann steht sie am Urlaubsort plötzlich vor einem Toten, der ihr mehr als bekannt vorkommt: ihrem Exmann Martin Maurer ... Währenddessen hat es Kollegin Kathi Reindl in Garmisch mit dem toten Liftmann Xaver Fischer zu tun, der zu Lebzeiten im Skiklub mitmischte. Ein arger Dorn im Auge war ihm die moderne Skihütte, deren Wirte er so piesackte, dass sie schließlich verkaufen wollten. Zwei Mordfälle an zwei verschiedenen Orten, aber beide Male dieselbe Todesursache – alles nur Zufall?

Unterhaltsamer Krimi mit guter Charakterisierung einiger Figuren, obwohl manche Wendung weit her geholt oder zu offensichtlich und klischehaft waren. Entspannung garantiert!

James Bowen: Bob - no ordinary cat

A special edition for children age 11 and above, featuring 8 pages of photographs. 'We are all given second chances every day of our lives, but we don't usually take them. Then I met Bob.' James Bowen was a homeless musician, busking on the streets of London to survive. But the moment he met an injured stray cat with ginger fur and big green eyes, his life began to change. Together James and Bob the cat faced the world - and won.

After all the animal stories with horses and dogs, I chose to read yet another story talking about the friendship between animals and their owners and how caring for an animal can change your life. Again, this was a children's and young adult version, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Michael Morpurgo: Born to run

When Patrick saves a litter of greyhound puppies from the canal, he can’t bear to hand them all over to the RSPCA. He pleads with his parents: couldn’t he just keep one of them? But nothing will convince them and Patrick cries himself to sleep – only to be woken by a greyhound puppy licking his face! Patrick christens his puppy Best Mate, and that’s what he becomes. Patrick’s favourite thing is to watch Best Mate running at full stretch on the heath, a speeding bullet, a cheetah-dog. Until one day Best Mate is kidnapped by a greyhound trainer, and begins a new life as a champion race dog. Suzie, the greyhound trainer’s step-daughter, loves Best Mate on first sight and gives him a new name, Bright Eyes. But what will happen when he can’t run any more?

Another emotional story about the friendship between dogs and their owners. Reading this story and discussing it in the family made us wonder, whether we could possibly have such a good friend....

Allen & Sandra Parton: Endal - How one extraordinary dog brought a family back from the brink

The remarkable story of Endal, voted ‘Dog of the Millennium’, and how, through his remarkable skills, companionship and unstinting devotion, he gave Allen Parton a reason to live again. Allen Parton was seriously injured while serving in the Gulf War. He lost the use of both of his legs, plus all memories of his children and much of his marriage. He was left unable to walk, talk or write - isolated in his own world. After five years of intensive therapy and rehab, he was still angry, bitter and unable to talk. Until a chance encounter with a Labrador puppy - Endal - who had failed his training as an assistance dog on health grounds. They 'adopted' each other, and Endal became Allen's reason to communicate with the outside world, to come to terms with his injuries, and to want to live again. Not content with learning over 200 commands to help Allen complete everyday tasks like getting dressed and going out to the shops in his wheelchair, Endal gave Allen the ability to start living again, and to become a husband and father again in his own special way. This is the incredible story of Allen, his wife Sandra, and his family. And, of course, Endal.

Moving, thrilling, fascinating. An emotional and tearful reading.

Michael Morpurgo: War Horse

A stunning wartime classic. In the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in terrible times. One horse has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. The power of war and the beauty of peace. This is his story.

Again, a very popular Michael Morpurgo story that I wanted to read to know what it is all about. Fascinating, gripping and full of emotions.